Vulcan 800 Bobber Project

[MikeGoodwin]

MikeGoodwin,

Up here in Arlington and was wondering if you still have your old parts? I was curious about 4 srews that are near the rear fender. They are usually removed when one installs saddle bags and are where the brackets install at. I don't have the orig. screws. See attached pic.

PM sent.

[goddarddr]

I think I see the problem, the red cap needs the vent hose, its the other carb nipple on the other side that gets capped on my bike,unless with your tank there is still a hose there
I don't know if it matters but my fuel line routs under not over but my petcock is on the left side
where did get the clear fuel line? I like the look

[MikeGoodwin]

That seemed to do the trick dave. I disconnected the line from the carb to see if my petcock was block but it flowed fine. Then I took that cap off and put one on the other nipple and fired it up and the gas flowed freely. I can't thank you and the other guys enough for all of the help on this project.

Edit: The fuel line came from Advance Auto parts. I was going to get a black one but saw this one for $3 at advance so I jumped on it. The clear turned out to be pretty cool and helpful since I could see if the gas was flowing or not.

[goddarddr]

Im glad you posted the pic, I could see you had the vent closed off, need to put the vent hose back on exposed nipple. ur ready to ride now` fuel line routing probably doesn't matter?

[mumbles]

The clear fuel line does look good. If you need some help making a bracket or jetting the carb let me know.
Btw, I saw a killer looking vn800 with a Sporty black and white tank on the corner of Jones and Steepleway yesterday around noon. LOL

[MikeGoodwin]

The clear fuel line does look good. If you need some help making a bracket or jetting the carb let me know.
Btw, I saw a killer looking vn800 with a Sporty black and white tank on the corner of Jones and Steepleway yesterday around noon. LOL

Haha, yeah man, that was me. Monday is my day off so I was out and about testing her out. I took your advice and started looking around for an old hot rod air cleaner. I found a lot of cool looking ones on ebay for real cheap so I might end up going that direction. I'll let you know when I do because I don't have a clue how to rejet the carb and I'll need some help. I just tried to take her out for a quick ride and noticed that my headlight wasn't working. I checked the fuse and all of the connections and they seem fine. I also reconnected the switch box from the handlebars and still nothing. All of my other lights are working. I'm going to check the bulb in the morning but after that I have no clue what else to look for. Any ideas?

[goddarddr]

is high and low both out?

[MikeGoodwin]

Yeah dave, they're both gone.

[goddarddr]

odd that they would both go at same time. I bet tis not the bulb

[Alley Rat]

It may be the built in relay in the Fuse box. That happened to my bike. I just pluged it into my starter circuit and put a three way switch in. Now the light comes on as soon as I turn the key and I have high, low, and off. Sounds like that is it if you have checked everything else.

[MikeGoodwin]

Hey alleyrat, how do you go about wiring the headlight into the starter circuit? I'm pretty electrically illiterate.

[goddarddr]

even though that h.light fuse looks good, I would replace it anyways, sometimes they are burn't can't see it

[Alley Rat]

It is real simple. All you have to do is get a three way switch. Plug your power from the hot side of the starter circuit to the power tab of the switch. Then all you have to do is attach your wires for the headlight to the other two tabs of the switch. Your switch should have three positions so when it is in the middle the light is off, toggle down for dim, and toggle up for high.

[metty]

glad ya figured out the fuel problem, sounds like it's almost time to give'r hell on the road! good luck!

[MikeGoodwin]

Thanks Alley Rat, sounds simple enough. And as for the fuel problem metty... i haven't quite got it figured out. I just took her out to meet some friends and about 10 miles down the road she started acting up again. It started bogging down going down the highway so I pulled off and looked at the fuel line and there was only fuel about halfway up. I ended up pulling the fuel line and emptying the gas out of it. I hooked it all back up and started it up and let it run for a minute before turning the fuel back on and it ran fine all the way home. As far as I can tell i think it's just pouring too much gas into the carb but I may be wrong. I don't know if it means anything but it almost dies when I pull the choke. I'm going to try to run the fuel line under the carb like you did dave and see if that helps.

[cike]

hey mike, i've missed out on the happenings with your bike for the last couple weeks. gotta say though that I love the new look and the black n white tank. looks killer. hope you get the fuel issue worked out, would help if I knew what was worng. I would think that the fuel line should be full. the petcock is gravity fed and not vaccume like the stock one. was it a new petcock? if not have you taken it out and checked the filter that goes inside the tank. don't know if this one will happen with you, but I know some Harley's (use the same style petcock) have fuel starving issues if the line is ran so the fuel has to go uphill. I know it's not your cause right now from the pic but something to watch out for if you run it under the carb. your problem sounds kinda similar to the one i've been having with my bike.

[slow]

Hey Mike,
Does your tail light have 2 wires or 3? The one I ordered has 2 and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to wire it up with the 3 factory wires. I know I saw something about that problem on another thread but I haven't been able to find it.

[xfiend]

slow, it seems like everyone on this forum has gone around with a problem of some sort wiring their tail light, so never, fear, your not alone. My bike had a black and green wire. These are both hot wires, one for the running light, one for brake light. I can't remember which was which, you'll have to play around with it BEFORE you wrap things up. The ground comes from the screws connection to the housing frame, so make sure these connections are clean and tight. Finally, if its still not working, check your fuses. Dave and I both had the fuses blow at some point during the process. Replacing those fuses solved the issue. Good luck.

[goddarddr]

what kind of light do you have? if your light is the ford model A style like ours, has 2 seperate bulbs the green wire goes to the brake light( upper) on mine.I only have a rear brake switch but if I had a front brake switch also, I would think this is the extra wire and needs to be connected with the rear brake switch wire to the green wire.
one day I didn't have tail/brake light, so tightened up the mounting screws = light

[slow]

I've got a sparto light with a red wire and a black wire. I was thinking that red was hot and black was ground but I haven't actually mounted the light yet because I wanted to make sure everything was working. Maybe it grounds when mounted to the fender. If that is the case, is paint going to affect the ground?